vertex

[ vur-teks ]

noun

, plural ver·tex·es, ver·ti·ces [vur, -t, uh, -seez].

1. the highest point of something; apex; summit; top:

   the vertex of a mountain.

2. Anatomy, Zoology. the crown or top of the head.
3. Craniometry. the highest point on the midsagittal plane of the skull or head viewed from the left side when the skull or head is in the Frankfurt horizontal.
4. Astronomy. a point in the celestial sphere toward which or from which the common motion of a group of stars is directed.
5. Geometry.
   1. the point farthest from the base:

      the vertex of a cone or of a pyramid.

   2. a point in a geometrical solid common to three or more sides.
   3. the intersection of two sides of a plane figure.

vertex

/ ˈvɜːtɛks /

noun

1. the highest point
2. maths
   1. the point opposite the base of a figure
   2. the point of intersection of two sides of a plane figure or angle
   3. the point of intersection of a pencil of lines or three or more planes of a solid figure
3. astronomy a point in the sky towards which a star stream appears to move
4. anatomy the crown of the head

vertex

/ vûr′tĕks′ /

, Plural vertices vûr′tĭ-sēz′

1. The point at which the sides of an angle intersect.
2. The point of a triangle, cone, or pyramid that is opposite to and farthest away from its base.
3. A point of a polyhedron at which three or more of the edges intersect.

Word History and Origins

Origin of vertex¹

First recorded in 1560–70; from Latin: “a whirl, top (of the head),” equivalent to vert(ere) “to turn” + -ex (stem -ic- ) noun suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of vertex¹

C16: from Latin: highest point, from vertere to turn

Example Sentences

This was practically confirmed using a vertex cover problem with 4096 vertices.

From Science Daily

While place cells fire whenever an animal is in a specific location, grid cells fire only when the animal is at one of the vertices of a triangular lattice.

From Science Daily

Deneb is apparently the faintest of the stellar triangle vertices, but don’t be fooled.

From Scientific American

Two classes of shapes work, they proved: “boring parallelograms” and “surprising cyclic quadrilaterals,” cyclic meaning that all vertexes of a quadrilateral lie on a circle.

From New York Times

In the Blue Brain graph, for example, three neurons with all three synapses between them transmitting signals formed the vertices of a hollow triangle.

From Scientific American